Diet and Training in the morning

[Hard2Gain]

Ok, I am a father of 3 daughters, married, have a full time job, kids play sports...because of all of these commitments, I get up at like 4AM to go work out at the gym and I have to be at work by 6ish. Working out in the morning is pretty much all the time I have unless I don't want to get alot of sleep though I can squeeze in a workout here and there in the basement since i have some basic equipment.

My question however, is getting up this early to go work out means not eating anything more than maybe a bowl of cheerios or a protein shake before lifting. I gotta eat something on lifting days anyway. In a nutshell, I am not trying to cut just yet as that will come in say Feb. But for now I a guess I am trying to put on some lean mass.

I will read over the lean mass bulking thread shortly but am curious if anyone has any ideas of how I should structure my diet when working out first thing in the morning. Should I just eat something small and quick to get something in my system then got to the PWO nutrition right after and on with my day or should things be flipped around somehow?

[gbrice75]

Welcome to the board!

I'm in the same boat as you, albeit for different reasons. I workout first thing in the morning although not THAT early. I get to the gym at 5:30am. I get up at 4:30am and eat immediately. When I was trying to add mass, I was eating 3 whole eggs, 1 cup of oats and a 30g protein shake. So I had about an hour to digest before hitting the gym.

All I can say is that it's important you have a pre-workout meal with as much time as possible (up to about 1.5 hours or so) before working out. Just do your best. We don't all live lifestyles that are consusive to bodybuilding, and just need to do the best with what we have. Good luck!

[bigcwithane]

Just pound down a shake with raw oats in it it is fast and easy, also really good imo.

[gbrice75]

Just pound down a shake with raw oats in it it is fast and easy, also really good imo.

Agreed. Quickest easiest way to get a good protein/carb meal in before that workout.

[Hard2Gain]

Well, I am glad to hear that I am on the right track. I am familiar with trying to add mass but this time around it will be a little bit different. I wouldn't mind going up another 10 lbs before I start working on my cutting cycle though. But I don't want to be adding fat either. This will really be my first time going about things this way so I am sure there will be alot more questions coming from me in the future. thanks for the feedback as well as for any help you guys offer in the future.

Nice to be here by the way. Seems like Chopdewey is fairly dead now as well. Wish I had kept up with everyone so I would know where they migrated to. A few of them anyway. Sucks having to start over on a new board.

[Flix]

Whenever I have to work out early in the morning I try to have a shake with some milk, oats, and a little bit of protein powder. But I also wake up an hour before and drink it then go back to sleep because I can fall back asleep really easily.

Something that may be good would be drinking something while you are lifting. I like doing that anyway, especially in the morning. I usually use some waxy maize (or maltodextrine if i have that) and some protein powder.

[Hard2Gain]

Well, I get to the gym at 4:30 in the morning and have to be out of there by 5:40 at the latest to make it to work on time. I can afford to be a little late here and there since technically I am the boss but we all have boss's if you will and I really don't want to screw up a good thing. I am allowed to come to work this early because I get my shi7 done which in turn allows me to get out early and play dad if you will. So it really is a good thing. However, I do have equipment at the house if I have to split my workout from time to time. But it is just basic stuff and honestly, when I was on cycle, I did not have enough plates to do my big lifts.

In any case, I normally get up and at least have some Cheerios or some oats. I don't typically have a shake because I will be having another one about 2 hours later. Today however, I did as suggested and made a quick shake (use True Protein's recession mix-maybe not the best but definitely the best buy around at $100 for a 25# bag of protein powder and it mixes easily with water) w/ 1/2 cup of oats. The problem I had was keeping it mixed. All the damn oats kept settling to the bottom of the damn mixer cup. I probably had the shake about 30 minutes before I actually started lifting. It wasn't bad but different.

The past 3 weeks my workouts have been simply 2 body parts a day slowly adding weight each time I workout. This is all in an effort to get my body used to my normal program (BossHogg's old program) which will start next week. It is basically a one on, one off, type of deal with two work outs that rotated. It allows me to hit the same body parts twice in a week with about 3 days recovery time in between. It worked great when I was on cycle but not sure how I will be feeling about it while going natural. I am sure it will be a little more stressful on the CNS if you will and I will really have to focus on making sure I get enough sleep. I may have to run out to my car at lunch for a quick nap just to make sure I am getting enough rest as getting to bed early can be difficult with 3 kids (twin 12 year olds and a 6 year old -all girls!)

I guess the idea is going to be more of a lean bulking phase if you will. I won't use the word cycle since I am not doing the juice side of it. I will post up a new thread in the members log section with some stats. I will also have to see if I can get my body fat done at the gym. it will be w/ calipers but better than nothing. Honestly, I am expecting a big number to come back so I am a little reluctant at this point.

[autokraftgt]

Hard2gain, thanks for the thread...I have to workout at 5am also....being a dad, and husband doesnt allow anytime to lift at night even though I feel I get better workouts in the evening. I have never been able to down a bunch of food in the morning so this might help a lot. This answered a few of my questions...good luck!

[Far from massive]

I got a thing called a blender bottle the other day, its a plastic bottle with a screw on flip top cap to mix drinks in. Now here is where they got smart, it has a stainless steel coil spring in the shape of a ball about 2 inchs in diameter, when you shake your drink the spring flys around and mixes the powders very well aiding in quick assimaltion.

On top of that you can preload you whey/ maltodextrin/dextrose mix in the bottle throw it in your bag and then add water at the gym after your workout and shake for 40 seconds drink two to three rinse and shakes with cold water and they thing is clean.

No I do not own the company...but I sure feel like an idiot for not thinking of it myself...

PS Really glad to hear you are putting your kids before you workouts, although if your twins are 12 in the next couple of years you may wanna bulk up...Those teen years will really test you ( been there done that..PS would not trade it for the world).

Good luck and keep up the good work!

[Hard2Gain]

I have two of those shaker cups! They rock for sure. But none the less, the damn oats would quickly settle to the bottom. Not going to lie, I almost choked when I swalled a bit of a chunk of oats. Just wasn't used to it I guess. It worked though so I won't complain too much.

Glad this has helped a few of you already. Don't get me wrong, I can normally eat first thing in the morning. In fact, I feel like crap if I don't eat something. But I am more so faced with a time issue. I refuse to wake up any earlier than 3:50 in the the damn morning to go to the gym. It is already a sacrifice and any early puts me at getting only 5 hours of sleep! It is damn near impossible to get in bed before 9 PM 5 nights a week. At some point the wife gets upset and complains that I'm not spending time with her. So I do the best I can. But the new workout will have me only going to the gym 3 days a week as I will do my cardio outside of the gym or in my basement on my spin bike. That should help some.

Just posted up my other thread over in the members cycle section. Dug out a few pictures from a month or so ago, since nothing changed I figured they will work for starting photos.

[Hard2Gain]

Oh, I forgot to add the oddest thing happened to me today! The wife said that perhaps we should DVR some of the shows we watch together because I should not be staying up until 10+ PM all the time and then getting up at 3:30 or what ever and that maybe I should try to work out in the evenings!!!!

[Flix]

If you have a coffee grinder you can grind the raw oats up and make them almost powder like. They will still settle to the bottom, but they are way easier to shake up and drink. I grind up alot at once and keep them in tubbleware and then just use an old protein scoop so its still quick.

[Hard2Gain]

Bingo! That makes the most sence! I will dig out the quisinart and give that a shot.

[Flix]

Right on man.